"Breakout" by Foo Fighters
Max was being obnoxious and she didn't care. Singing to herself in the shower before the other girls on her floor could get up, Max knew that if she had anyone else in here they'd consider it obnoxious that she was singing. She couldn't help it, being happy. If anything, I'm sharing my happy with them so double happy, Max thought cheerily as she kept on singing. Having caught a video of it on YouTube the previous night, Max's hummed "Obstacles" by Syd Matters as she washed her hair and let the foam wash rinse off her head and down her back until her pink hair was as close to squeaky clean as it could be.
"…hide and seek in waterfalls…," Max began to quietly sing, as she switched the water off and got out of the shower stall to towel herself off, "…We were younger, we were younger…"
"Max?" Max heard Kate ask from in the shower room and she froze, towel wrapped halfway around her body with her mouth ajar and eyes widened as she heard the sound of footsteps approach the curtain of her shower area. Please be Kate coming, Please be Kate coming… She won't open the curtain, right? No, Kate's not like that… CrapCrapCRAP…
"Yeah?" Max asked hesitantly, finding her voice after a moment as she hurriedly pulled her sleep clothes back on. A bad habit having turned into normalcy, Max had swapped out her usual sleep clothes for an oversized shirt she'd taken from Chloe's dresser that was big even for Chloe and boxers. Pulling back the curtain, Max gave her friend a relieved smile as she sighed, "Oh, Kate. I was worried you were someone else… That was close."
"Who were you expecting, Max?" Kate asked with a shy chuckle as she and Max walked up to the sinks where they both brushed their teeth between small fits of giggles until Kate rinsed her mouth out, "We're the only ones who ever get up this early, Max. What, did you think I was Victoria?"
"I honestly did momentarily live in dread of that, yes," Max said, having rinsed her mouth out before splashing some water on her face to finish waking up. Note to self – Don't sing in the showers here again. Ever. Even if Kate's the only one up this early, just don't do it, "Last thing I need is more fuel for her to use on me. I… I don't really feel like going at it with her again."
"Max, that was months ago," Kate said and Max felt a hand squeeze her arm reassuringly, Kate watching her with her brows knitted together in worry, "Besides, Victoria has kind of mellowed out some. Ever since Halloween, really, though I can't imagine why."
"I've just tried to avoid her entirely," Max said, not batting an eye when Kate looked at her in mild surprise, "Relax, Kate. Less Mean Girls, more recluse."
I can more than imagine why, Kate, Max thought as she recalled breaking down in front of the "Queen of Blackwell" before informing Victoria just how depraved Mark Jefferson is. Not "was" here. Is. The trial had ended last week, Max spending a few nights at Chloe's as they watched the coverage on the local evening news with Joyce and David. Guilty by reason of insanity. Bastard definitely has the crazy down, that's for sure. Sentenced to spend the remainder of his life in a psychiatric facility for the criminally insane, Max had shivered whenever Jefferson would look at the camera. It's like he knows I'm watching. This isn't even the Jefferson who took…who took those pictures of me, but the idea is still there. He did say that he chose me, and when I went back to turn in my photo th-the look he gave me. Max shuddered and slowly stepped out of Kate's reach only to remember just how far Jefferson had gotten. Kate…
"Kate? How are you holding up? After last week, I mean," Max asked, it being her turn to provide reassurance when her friend's face seemed to drain all of its color away, "Your family doing alright?"
"M-My family pulled me out of school last week for the trial. You know that," Kate said, her voice brittle as she seemed to Max like she was pushing her words out, "I'm okay, I guess. It's hard to have to go back to all that happened, especially considering I testified. Max, I was so terrified. They didn't show the photos while I was there but I can only imagine how horrible they are."
"You will get through this, Kate," Max said as she hugged Kate, "You already are. The fact that you're here proves that. And Mark Jefferson can go fuck himself."
Hearing Kate gasp at her use of language, Max chuckled a little before pulling away to brush some of Kate's loose hair out of her friend's face. You really are the strong one, Kate. You just haven't found that out yet.
"I have a question for you now," Max heard Kate ask, and the tone was familiar enough that the groan she let out only seemed to entice Kate further. You really hang out with Dana too much. Like, please stop, "If you're up to answering, that is. I don't want to pry."
"You want to know if I'm dating Chloe," Max said flatly, less an admittance and more a surrender of information for which Kate over-enthusiastically nodded, "I… I don't know."
"I've seen the way you two look at each other, Max. It's clear how you feel," Kate said, leaning against the sink as Max leaned over it and splashed her hand in the cold water she'd left running, "How does she feel about you? You do know at least that, right?"
"I know she likes me, I mean as more than friends," Max said as she rubbed at one of her temples, "She's just… She wants to make sure that everything is perfect, so we're moving slow."
"Slow? But aren't you dating?"
"We technically haven't had an actual 'date' yet. Despite being 'more than friends' since Thanksgiving, which makes it nearly a month now," Max said, hanging her head as she did so, "…I want a date."
"Well, this reminds me of 'The Tortoise and The Hare', in a fashion."
"Oh?"
"You want to speed through everything, at least to her I'm guessing. What happens when you reach the end, that goal you're wanting?"
"Uhh, I don't know," Max shrugged, looking at Kate in confusion as she tilted her head in thought, "I guess we'll just be together."
"Uh-huh, you'll 'just be'. Chloe, meanwhile, wants you two to take your time and enjoy everything as it comes. The distance is the same, but the time getting to the goal is not."
"Wise you are, Yoda Kate," Max said, laughing when Kate put her hands behind her ears and grumbled about Max not being ready and having not patience, "Does this mean I have to confront myself because I'm not a Jedi yet?"
I kinda did that already.
"No, but it does mean that you have to confront just how hard you are trying to push everything. You have time, Max, you both do."
"You sure you're Kate Marsh?" Max asked, stroking her chin, "You don't strike me as Kate Marsh, all wise with the relationship knowledge and such. Did you change up your bible for a copy of Dr. Bill?"
"I didn't change it…," Kate said, looking down at her feet as she fidgeted in place, "but Dana let me borrow one. Anyway, winter break starts tomorrow. Will you be staying in town over the holidays with Chloe and her family?"
"Some of it, but I'm actually heading up to Seattle tomorrow and coming back down after Christmas," Max said right before Brooke came in, "Oh, hey Brooke."
"Hey, Max. So, I guess you heard I broke up with Warren again," Brooke said, to both Kate and Max's mutual surprise.
"What? What happened?" Kate asked, only to look over at Max when Brooke looked over at the pinkette.
"I don't like being an alternative to someone else," Brooke said, a little edge to her voice as she took a step closer, "The worst part is, he talked about you nonstop even when I was with him."
"That's not my fault," Max said, her own ire growing, "I don't lead him on, but he still won't leave me alone."
"…I…I know," Brooke said, rubbing her forehead as she looked up at Max with an apologetic expression, "Sorry. He's pretty frustrating, huh?"
"That is certainly a way of putting it," Max said with a snort as she and Brooke laughed. Heading out the door, Max waved at Brooke and Kate before heading to her room.
When Max closed the door behind her, she set her toiletries and towel aside and got dressed. A nice off-white leather jacket with a red tank-top bearing a deer skull, Max completed her little ensemble with some torn up black jeans and black boots that came up to just under her knees. Looking herself over in the mirror, Max tugged at the jacket a bit before nodding in acceptance. Her pink hair faded into a mix of her natural hair color and pink, Max ran her hands through it and brushed it while looking at her phone. Waiting. Chloe, are you seriously going to mope today of all days? There's no class, and Seattle is tomorrow. Quit being a butt.
When Max had let Chloe know she'd be heading up to Seattle for Christmas, Chloe had been initially inconsolable; refusing to even speak to Max for two days, Chloe had apologized to Max in person outside the dormitory after curfew when she'd come for one of her increasingly common sleepovers.
"I'm just going to hella miss you, is all," Chloe said, a slight petulance to her voice, as Max led her upstairs, "I'm allowed to miss you."
"Of course you're allowed to miss me, Chloe," Max said while gently squeezing Chloe's hand, "What isn't cool is not calling or texting me back for two whole days. So not fucking cool."
Chloe had seemed okay after that, but there was a depressive feeling around Chloe after that, like her heart wasn't into any of their hanging out or sleepovers. Lacking her usual energy, Chloe had become despondent and moody to the point of reminding Max how she'd been when they'd initially been reunited. As a result, what budding romantic momentum they'd had was starting to fizzle, and Max was becoming more and more worried that Chloe would withdraw into the shell of bitterness and hurt that she'd been in months ago. How Chloe from the other timeline and I had initially been, anyway. Max still thought about the other timelines every now and then, but with her focus increasingly going towards Chloe and her life in this timeline Max paid it little mind. This timeline had become her timeline, little by little over the past few months, and Max had grown into this reality. Changed into her clothes, and having packed last night, Max pulled out her phone and sat on her desk as she typed away.
MAX: Chloe, what the eff
MAX: You're doing it again. Again.
CHLOE: No, I'm here. Chill.
MAX: Chill? Seattle is tomorrow and you're acting like a jerk
MAX: What happened to the girl who asked me to look her in the eyes if I wanted to kiss her? The girl who wanted to hold my hand?
CHLOE: I'm right here
MAX: No, you're not. That's the problem. It's been a month and you're NOT here.
CHLOE: Whatever…
MAX: :/
CHLOE: NO EMOJI
MAX: That is exactly it, that right there! You fucking push me away while trying to act like everything is fine. I was like that with you and you got pissed about it so why is it not cool that I'm pissed you're pulling it on me?
CHLOE: Wait, you're mad at me?
MAX: Um, yeah I am. Break starts tomorrow and the girl I'm interested in, the person for whom I am taking things super-slow, is acting like I'm next to nothing.
CHLOE: Hold the fuck up, I am NOT acting like that!
CHLOE: Max… It feels like you're leaving all over again, okay?
CHLOE: it hurts /3
Max stared at the screen as she brought a trembling hand to her mouth. She knew, of course, that Chloe's despondency and depressed attitude were in large part because she was going to be in Seattle for a little while. The fact that Chloe connected it to her having been in Seattle for five years, however, worried her. Does she really think I'd do that to her, that I would up and disappear all over again? Chloe…
MAX: Meet me in the school parking lot in an hour.
MAX: Please, Chloe?
CHLOE: …okay…
Max sat on the steps that led from the main quad outside the school to the parking lot and looked at her phone. One hour and ten minutes, Max thought to herself. She knew that Chloe always ran late but hoped that maybe she'd show up on time just to emphasize how serious she was taking this, whatever was going on between them, seriously. I traveled through multiple timelines, realities, to save you and keep you alive. I need you with me so much, Chloe, and I know you need me too. Why can't you just be with me? Sighing as she leaned back against the steps, frustrated from going through the same motions with her blue-haired friend seemingly all over again, Max heard the familiar sound of "Piano Fire" coming from the road and saw Chloe's truck speed toward the parking lot only to stop as close to the foot of the steps as possible.
"You getting in, or are we having it out here?" Chloe asked, a disarmingly pained look on her face, "Please, Max. If we're going to 'talk', I'd prefer it to be somewhere a little more private."
"That was the plan," Max said to Chloe as she got to her feet and hurriedly walked down the steps to climb into the passenger side, "Hey, stranger."
"Don't start," Chloe said in a fatigued voice, looking at Max from the corner of her eye before a dry chuckle escaped her previously-thinned lips, "Hey. Um, sorry for being such a-"
"Like you said," Max stopped her, a finger to Chloe's lips, "Not here, okay? Focus on driving, and find us a private place to talk."
"…Gotcha," Max heard Chloe say, Max's attention occupied by the sight of Warren coming running toward them, "Uh, you might wanna hurry. Unless you feel like sharing me."
Max tried not to laugh when she saw Chloe crane her neck out and glare with narrowed eyes at the approaching Warren, the boy halting in mid-step as Max gave him an apologetic smile before Chloe sped out of the parking lot and back onto the road.
"So, here it is," Chloe said as they pulled into the junkyard, "You've already been here…except not here, because it was a here in another time…but in any case welcome to my Shangri-Shit, American Rust. Home away from hell."
"Déjà vu," Max said in an awed voice as she looked at the familiar surroundings, not noticing the pained look once again momentarily cross Chloe's face. "I still can't believe you brought us here, though. Wowser."
"Yeah, well it's the one place no one would think to look for me these days," Chloe said, flashing Max a quick smile as Max slipped her hand around Chloe's, "Good memories squashed by one hella bad one. Time to make new ones, right?"
"Hella yes," Max said with an optimism in her voice, "Try to anyway. So, lead the way. This is your hangout."
Max walked alongside Chloe, taking in everything. Being in Arcadia Bay and Blackwell so much that the sight of a place she hadn't been in for months made everything seem surreal to Max, never mind how and where her last visit to this place had gone down. Instinctively feeling along her neck at a phantom sensation of something pricking her skin, Max shuddered as the vision of Mark Jefferson looming over her flashed across the forefront of her thoughts. David shot him in that timeline. Now he's rotting in a psych hospital. I hope he appreciates the aesthetic of a padded cell and straightjacket. Motherfucker. Returning her thoughts to present events, Max looked up from her feet to see Chloe watching her patiently with her forehead creased.
"You okay?" Chloe asked, reaching over to lay a hand on Max's shoulder.
"Fine, I guess. Just the bad memories I have here, too," Max said, squeezing the hand on her shoulder as she walked with Chloe into the cinderblock shed Max remembered.
She'd come in to look for bottles, and get a sneak peek at what Chloe'd been up to for five years, when Max had been in the junkyard from her previous timeline. Now, however, she was entering it as Chloe's…whatever they were. Everything's the same, like the exact same, Max thought as she wandered through the small space while Chloe lit a joint. Her phone going off, Max heard Chloe sigh as she pulled her phone out. Warren, wondering about the look on "my friend's" face…, Max thought with a roll of her eyes as she powered her phone down entirely and showed Chloe.
"Okay," Max said as she sat down across from Chloe on a milk crate, "Talk."
"Uh, you want a hit first?" Chloe offered the joint, and Max smiled at the etiquette but declined.
"I'm thinking of cutting myself off from that. I'll just stick to my vape and nicotine, thanks."
"Hipster nerd."
"Uh, yeah," Max said with a snort as she pulled the vape out of her camera bag and toked on it, blowing the vapor out in Chloe's direction before getting quiet, "…Chloe?"
"Mmm?"
"…Why'd you do that, hide from me for days at a time? What'd I do to deserve that?"
"You're leaving and I'm going to be stuck here, just like it was before," Chloe said, snuffing out the weed on the cinderblock wall behind her, "You expect me to be cheerful that you're going away?"
"It's for 4 days, Chloe, not years," Max said, knowing that having to compare her times in Seattle would open a wound that was only recently healed, "I'm coming back the day after Christmas, remember? You're getting me for the better part of my break."
"Yeah, well it still sucks," Chloe crossed her arms and averted her gaze away from Max. No, this makes no sense at all. There's something she's not telling me…
"Chloe, why are you really upset?"
"I just-"
"Be honest with me, Chloe? I don't mind the taking it slow, someone told me this morning I should enjoy it, but why do you seem so…so scared? Are you scared of me, of fucking up-?"
"Yes, okay?!" Chloe blurted out, rising to her feet in an instant. Clasping onto her arm with her hand, she peered up at Max through her lashes while her face was downcast, "I'm fucking terrified! Max, you expect so much of me and I have…I have this whole other me to compete with in your head and it's driving me crazy!"
Max's vape fell out of her hand as it went slack, Max's entire body suddenly feeling as though she'd turned to rubber. Staggering from the shock, Max braced herself against a wall opposite of Chloe and looked at her with a wide-eyed stare as her mouth hung partially open. What…What is this? Chloe is jealous of Chloe? Max tried to wrap her head around it, but found that all she could do was keep staring at Chloe in mute shock.
"God, you can't even deny that you…that you…," Chloe said, lips thinned as she looked down and away, unable to meet Max's gaze.
"C-Chloe," Max stammered as she took a shaky step forward, "I've been with you for months. Yes, I developed feelings for 'that' Chloe, but I don't rank my feelings between you two! How… Why would you even question that?"
"I…I just see how you look at me, remember how you looked at me back when we first started hanging out and it's like there was already this preconceived notion in your head of me. I'm not her, Max. We might be the same to a certain point, but I'm my own person," Chloe said as her body started to tremble, her voice shaking, "I want you to love me for me."
Max gripped Chloe by the shoulders and sat her down on the car seat that was propped against the wall Chloe was next to. Kneeling down in front of Chloe, Max took one of Chloe's hands and held onto it tightly with both of her own. Wowser, look at her eyes. She's so terrified, terrified of me not thinking she's good enough. Chloe, don't you know how much you mean to me? I've grown with you these… No, she needs to hear it for herself.
"When I first saw you in October, yes, I loved you because I had come to love her," Max admitted, rubbing the back of Chloe's hand with her thumb when Chloe averted her watery eyes and whimpered, "No, Chloe. Listen. If you care for me, really care, listen to what I'm about to say."
"Chloe, I have grown with you over these past few months. I didn't…I didn't have that with her. We were so wrapped up with my powers, Rachel, the storm… I hardly got to know her compared to you. I didn't get shot to save her, she's already gone. I saved you because you are who I want to be with."
"Max-"
"Let me finish, then you can say or do whatever you want. I won't stop you," Max said, getting up from the ground to pull a camp chair over and set it in front of Chloe so that she could look her in the eye, "I loved you for the wrong reasons, at first. I wanted someone who wasn't here, and I freely admit it. I was so confused because you were both the person I realized I loved and the friend who I hadn't seen in five years all over again. The best thing you did, Chloe, was tell me you needed to take things slow because I got to have my best friend back. Like, really back. I was able to grow and learn right alongside you as we got to know each other again. When I say I love you now, when I tell you that you complete me in every single, cheesy way it is because you fit and fill the spaces where I don't know about myself anymore. When I hold your hand, your fingers envelop mine and I feel secure. I feel safe and c-cared for when I'm with you. Chloe, I'm here for you."
"Jesus…Max, I-I don't know what to say to that," Chloe said, head downcast as she fiddled with the buttons of Max's jacket, pouting when she looked back up at Max, "…But you're going to Seattle. You're still going away."
"I thought you were supposed to be some hardcore punk, Price," Max teased, wincing when Chloe shot her a look.
"I am, Max. Hella. I just… You make me feel different, like I can lower my guard. You say I make you feel safe? I feel safe with you, okay? I can just fold up next to you, push the world away, and not have to worry about some scuzzy bullshit or step-prick," Chloe said, her pout replaced with a thin-lipped look of irritation that slowly morphed into an impish grin, "Don't go confusing me having feelings for you for me going soft, Caulfield. I can still totally throw down, 'Shaka Brah'."
"I thought you said it was funny!" Max said with uninhibited indignance.
"I said it was funny to someone who got your sense of humor, which is pretty much just me, so I'm allowed to make fun if I want."
"Fine, then. No surprise for you."
"…Surprise?" Max laughed and rolled her eyes when Chloe squirmed in her seat, eyes alight with childlike glee at the word, "What surprise? Gimme!"
"Well, I dunno…," Max said as she wagged a finger at Chloe, "You don't exactly deserve it, being such a jerk as to leave me hanging for days at a time-"
"I'm sorry, okay?" Chloe pleaded as she grabbed Max by the collar and pulled her into a warm hug, "Don't be mad, please? I…I just needed to know, yeah? That I'm the only girl for you, and the only Chloe Price."
"Dork," Max scoffed as she pulled back to pull off Chloe's snapback and ruffle her blue hair, "You are the Chloe Price. Accept no substitutes!"
Max, tilting her head in thought, twisted her lips before reaching around into her camera bag to present Chloe with an envelope bearing the Greyhound logo. Chloe held the envelope in both hands as they shook and she looked up at Max with an expectant wonder, knowing what was inside just as Max held up her own ticket. You're like Charlie finding the damn golden ticket. This is why I call you a dork, dork. Sitting on Chloe's lap when the punk patted on her legs, Max looped her arms around Chloe's neck and nuzzled into it.
"I-I'm coming with you? To Seattle?" Chloe asked in a cracked voice, the shock of it all having yet to subside.
"Yes, my dork, you are coming with me to Seattle," Max said as she sat up in Chloe's lap, "And, I have a request."
"Hmm? Uh, yeah? Dude, I'll do whatever you want!" Chloe exclaimed only to let out a nervous laugh when she saw the wry expression on Max's face.
"I want a date. I want our first date," Max said, raising a hand to silence Chloe when she was about to speak up, "Nothing fancy, and nothing formal. There's plenty of spots in the city where you and I can just chill and be together."
"…Then how is it a date?"
"Because I say so," Max said, irritated at Chloe's incredulous tone to the point of sticking out her tongue, "Because I want to be with you, and this is a compromise. Not too fast, not too slow. A first date to see how we are as a potential couple."
"Wait. You mean you don't consider us a couple now?" Chloe asked, brows furrowed with a hesitant look in her eyes.
"I know you like me, and you know how I feel about you. I don't want to…to overwhelm you. Hence, a first date. We don't need a date night every night or even every week. We're still exploring each other, learning new things," Max said as she curled a lock of blue hair around her finger, "Like you being the biggest softie in the history of ever."
Max laughed when Chloe shoved her off her lap, the indignant look on Chloe's face evident by the scowl and narrowed eyes. Aww, did the truth hurt that much, little Chlo-Chlo?
Author's Note -
You didn't think that just because they finally kissed that it was all resolved and everything. Relationships are a process, not an instant. We all know this, and if you don't you are the luckiest fucker EVER.
People asked me chapters ago if I would ever show Chloe's jealous side. I had planned on this particular jealousy from the get-go, so I hope you're satisfied. I know some of you thought it would be with Warren, and that will still happen, but I wanted to touch on the fact that the Chloe in this story has to compete for affection with the game's original Chloe. Think about it - the person you have to compete with for your special someone's heart is you. What a clusterfuck, eh?
Anywho, thanks for reading! Hope you leave a review! Also, surprise! You get a weekend update!
Stay Hella, Cinnamon Rolls!
See you for the next chapter!
Busy busy busy - writing, re-registering for some college courses (the pursuit of knowledge will not go away! plus, they're courses on sexuality and queer theory, so bonus!)